Senator’s son leads police car chase, ending with one officer killed. Charges pending.

Ian Cramer, the son of Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, is accused of leading local police in a car chase Wednesday that ended with a deputy killed, according to the senator’s office and the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

According to Sen. Kevin Cramer, while his wife and son were at a Bismarck emergency room, she stepped out of their vehicle and “Ian jumped into the driver’s seat and fled.” 

Authorities later found Ian Cramer in the 2017 Black Chevy Tahoe about 75 miles from the state capital, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Cramer fled again, leading officers from the local sheriff’s office to pursue, according to the highway patrol.

During the chase, Ian Cramer veered and crashed head-on into an unoccupied patrol vehicle, striking and killing a deputy standing behind the vehicle, North Dakota Highway Patrol said in their news release. He is in custody and charges are pending.

Ian Cramer, 42, “suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations,” the senator said in a statement Wednesday. 

Sen. Kevin Cramer said in his statement he will take the first flight home to his family “as we grieve what has happened.”